Our study of 1,000 senior business leaders demonstrates the extent to which big data sources and technology are being adopted across different sectors and regions of the world. We explain the impact on businesses and markets and how the acquisition of data is breaking down traditional industry boundaries. We identify how businesses are adapting to deal with this and what organizations need to do to make big data work for them. Here we take a closer look at the findings in the Public Sector. http://www.capgemini.com/insights-data

1. Perception of big data as a disruptor
Compared with the private sector, public sector organizations in our survey were
less likely to have experienced disruption (63% of public sector said they hadn’t
experienced it, compared with only 42% overall) – or to expect it in the coming three
years (62% of public sector respondents didn’t expect disruption, compared with
38% overall).
Behind this finding, however, we know that there is considerable variation.
Developing markets are more disrupted, with public sector organizations facing both
local and global competition, alongside deregulation and privatization. Certain types
Public Sector
Big & Fast Data: The Rise of Insight-Driven Business
Capgemini view
In an age of social media and mobile devices, when any good or bad news can
go viral in milliseconds, public sector organizations are under unprecedented
public scrutiny and pressure from citizens – acting as individuals or groups – to
offer superior service levels. Organizations are expected to make this service
leap while dealing with restricted access to resources, budget cuts, pressures on
spend, a decades-old asset base, and processes that are in many cases being
rapidly rendered obsolete by technological progress.
In this scenario, public sector organizations are increasingly aware that they need
to make the most of the insights that are available from big data. Adoption paths
vary from market to market. Mature markets are undertaking both strategic and
tactical adoption, whereas developing markets tend to have a tactical focus, with
some rather tentative strategic initiatives in certain regions.
More than technology challenges, it is the people transformation challenges that
tend to play a critical role in successful adoption and benefit realization in the
public sector.
Public sector
organizations are
increasingly aware
that they need to make
the most of the
insights that are
available from big data

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About Capgemini
With almost 145,000 people in over 40 countries, Capgemini is one of the
world’s foremost providers of consulting, technology and outsourcing
services. The Group reported 2014 global revenues of EUR 10.573 billion.
Together with its clients, Capgemini creates and delivers business and
technology solutions that fit their needs and drive the results they want. A
deeply multicultural organization, Capgemini has developed its own way of
working, the Collaborative Business ExperienceTM
, and draws on Rightshore®
,
its worldwide delivery model.
Learn more about us at
www.capgemini.com/insights-data
or contact us at
insights@capgemini.com
of service are also more subject to disruption: for example, postal services are under
severe threat from courier services, citizen services are subject to outsourcing to the
private sector, and other areas such as utilities and defense are facing inroads from
private sector organizations or public-private partnerships.
Awareness of big data opportunities
Perhaps unsurprisingly, public sector organizations in our survey were typically much
less aware of opportunities arising from big data than private sector respondents in
most industries. The apparent lack of awareness may be more a reflection of the fact
that public sector organizations face a different type of opportunity from their private
sector counterparts.
Of the range of propositions we offered, they were most likely to agree that decision-
makers increasingly require data in real time, but still less likely than the norm (37%
versus 42% across sectors strongly agreed). Few public sector respondents saw big
data as enabling new revenue streams (13% of public sector strongly agreed versus
27% overall) or becoming a revenue driver in its own right (16% versus 23%).
Implementation approach
About 54% of public sector organizations in our study were in some phase of
implementing big data technology, compared with 71% average overall. This was the
lowest percentage for any industry. An unusually high percentage said that they had
no plans to implement big data technology (21% in the public sector versus an overall
average of 12%).
Just 35% of public sector organizations (compared with the average for all industries
of 56%) planned to increase investment in big data over the next three years – far
lower than for private sector organizations. This is likely to reflect spending pressures
as much as lack of enthusiasm, however.
Unsurprisingly given these findings, public sector organizations were less likely than
average to have put in place specific big data technology and policies. Security and
privacy related measures were the most likely to have been adopted in this sector, in
common with most others.
Respondents were more likely than average to say that the big data agenda is
driven by IT – though this was the most commonly mentioned driver in all industries.
In practice, we know that there is disparity between different markets. In mature
markets such as EU countries and North America there are open data and data
monetization initiatives, which tend to be IT-driven. In developing markets, which
tend to be at an earlier point on the adoption curve, we see governance coming from
business, with execution by IT.
Capgemini spotlight
on tax and welfare
National tax and welfare
agencies are handling millions
of citizen interactions each
day, trying to meet demands
for increased responsiveness,
flexibility and efficiency. These
high-volume transactions offer
opportunities to fraudsters
and cyber criminals, as well as
scope for error.
Big data has an important
role to play; for example, it is
already proving its worth in
helping to predict tax evasion
and welfare fraud, both of
which place a huge strain on
the public purse. Predictive
analytics allows an agency
to make informed decisions
using data gathered from
across multiple government
departments and channels.
Agencies can pinpoint,
and take action against,
likely fraudsters based on
mismatches between lifestyle
and reported taxable income.
Within the digital tax agency,
powerful new approaches to
managing risk include using
deterministic and predictive
models to recalculate a
customer’s risk profile at key
points, such as filing of a tax
return. Personalized, real-time
messages can then prompt
potential late or non-paying
taxpayers to pay or reconsider
their actions.
For the welfare agency, real-
time transaction monitoring
and pattern recognition can
help to counter the increasing
threat of organized crime
and smooth the journey for
legitimate claimants.